Detection of Intestinal Parasites

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Parasitic Investiagation of Stool Specimens Algorithm

March 2009

That is why we developed an algorithm to guide test ordering when an intestinal parasite is suspected. As you can see here, the algorithm is based on the patient’s clinical presentation and their potential environmental exposures. We will be going into this in more detail in the following slides.

However, I’d like you to note here that the three main pathways lead to three separate tests, two of which are Enzyme immunoassays. One immunoassay is for Giardia intestinalis and the other is for Cryptosporidium species. These are the most common parasites detected in feces in the United States, and therefore, an enzyme immunoassay would be the preferred test in the majority of cases.